Gene Check screens baa, baa blues

FORT COLLINS - Hidden away in a makeshift laboratory off North College Avenue, eight scientists are working toward the solution of an international livestock crisis.

Though mad cow disease is becoming a distant memory for many of the world's beefeaters, in the agricultural world, it is not and

In sheep, however, Fort Collinsbased Gene Check Inc. has developed a blood test that determines whether an animal is immune or susceptible to the disease, allowing sheep breeders, such as company co-founder, president and CEO Bob Wagner, to screen flocks and create offspring with built-in protection.

The degenerative disease, called scrapie in sheep, destroys nerve cells in the spinal column and brain. Though no one knows exactly how the disease spreads, many countries are starting to require scrapie-free certification before allowing sheep